BILL NUMBER: SB 1	CHAPTERED  01/28/99

	CHAPTER   1
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JANUARY 28, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   JANUARY 28, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   JANUARY 19, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   JANUARY 15, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JANUARY 7, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Sher and Assembly Member Villaraigosa
   (Coauthors:  Senators Burton, Chesbro, and Johnson)
   (Coauthor:  Assembly Member Kuehl)

                        DECEMBER 7, 1998

   An act to amend Section 14581 of, to add and repeal Section 14585
of, and to repeal, add and repeal, and add Section 14575 of, the
Public Resources Code, relating to beverage containers, making an
appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1, Sher.  Beverage containers.
   (1) The existing California Beverage Container Recycling and
Litter Reduction Act requires a distributor of specified beverage
containers to pay a redemption payment to the Department of
Conservation, for each beverage container, as defined, sold or
transferred, for deposit in the California Beverage Container
Recycling Fund.  The money in the fund is continuously appropriated
to the department to pay refund values, processing payments, and for
other purposes.
   Under the act, the department is required to calculate a
processing fee for each beverage container with a specified scrap
value, which is required to be paid by beverage manufacturers for
each beverage container sold or transferred to a dealer.  Prior to
January 1, 1999, a processing fee was required to be imposed annually
only if the scrap value for the material was less than the cost of
recycling, and to be reduced, as specified, and, after January 1,
1999, a processing fee is required to be established pursuant to
different criteria.
   Under prior law, the department, until January 1, 1999, was
permitted to expend $18,500,000 of the moneys in the fund for the
payment of handling fees, and $5,000,000, until January 1, 1999, for
payments for curbside programs.
   The bill would reenact the prior method of calculating the
processing fee and would extend those provisions until January 1,
2000.  The bill would require the processing fee and processing
payment calculation imposed by this bill to apply retroactively to
beverage containers sold or redeemed on or after January 1, 1999.
   This bill would extend the authorization to expend these funds for
handling fees and curbside programs until January 1, 2000, thereby
making an appropriation.
   The bill would require the payments of handling fees to
supermarket sites and payments to curbside programs to apply
retroactively to containers redeemed or collected on or after January
1, 1999.
   (2) The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 14575 of the Public Resources Code, as amended
by Section 26 of Chapter 624 of the Statutes of 1995, is repealed.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14575 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   14575.  (a) (1) If any type of empty beverage container with a
refund value established pursuant to Section 14560 has a scrap value
less than the cost of recycling, the department shall establish a
processing fee and a processing payment for the container, by the
type of the material of the container.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including, but not
limited to, Section 14575, as amended by Section 26 of Chapter 624
of the Statutes of 1995, the processing fee and processing payment
established pursuant to this section shall apply retroactively to
each container sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer on and
after January 1, 1999, and the processing payment established
pursuant to this section shall apply retroactively to each container
redeemed on and after January 1, 1999.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), costs to recycle determined
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) and subdivision (d)
established by the department on and after the effective date of the
act adding this section, shall be adjusted annually to reflect
changes in the cost of living, as measured by the Department of Labor
or a successor agency of the United States government.
   (c) Except for the adjustments made pursuant to subdivision (b),
the department shall calculate the processing fee in an amount so
that the processing payment will equal  sixty-nine dollars and
forty-one cents ($69.41) for each ton of glass containers and three
hundred ninety-eight dollars and forty-five cents ($398.45) for each
ton of bimetal containers, based upon all of the following
assumptions:
   (1) The estimated average scrap value is thirty dollars ($30) per
ton for glass containers and ten dollars and sixty-seven cents
($10.67) per ton for bimetal containers.
   (2) The unmodified cost data for certified recycling centers for
the January 1, 1992, calculation of the  processing fee was
ninety-nine dollars and forty-one cents ($99.41) for each ton of
glass containers and four hundred nine dollars and twelve cents
($409.12) for each ton of bimetal containers.
   (d) If the scrap value surveyed by the department pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (j) for PET containers is less than
seven hundred ninety-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents ($799.68) for
each ton of PET containers, as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (b),
the department shall establish a processing fee and payment for each
PET container sold.
   (e) Once the annual processing payment has been determined
utilizing the calculations made pursuant to subdivisions (a), (b),
(c), and (d), the actual processing fee paid by beverage
manufacturers, subject to modification pursuant to subdivision (f),
shall be the per-container fee multiplied by the sum of the
following:
   (1) An estimate of the number of containers  redeemed by recyclers
during the previous calendar year, divided by an estimate of the
number of nonrefillable beverage containers sold or transferred to a
distributor or dealer during the previous calendar year, based on the
latest available data.
   (2) Five percentage points, except that whenever a surplus of
unexpended money exists in the fund sufficient to equal the estimate
of the previous three months, expenditures of processing payments for
each material type as determined by the department, then zero
percentage points shall be used.
   (f) (1) The department shall reduce the processing fee paid by
beverage manufacturers pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e), and the
voluntary artificial scrap value paid by a willing purchaser pursuant
to Section 14575.1, by expending the funds in the Glass Processing
Fee Account, the PET Processing Fee Account, and the Bimetal
Processing Fee Account.
   (2) The total amount of funds expended in each calendar year to
reduce the amount of processing fees or the voluntary artificial
scrap value paid by a willing purchaser pursuant to Section 14575.1
paid for each container type shall be equal to the funds available in
the Glass Processing Fee Account, the PET Processing Fee Account, or
the Bimetal Processing Fee Account, for each container type and
shall not exceed an amount equal to 25 percent of the redemption
payments projected to be paid by distributors of beverages sold in
that container type for the previous calendar year.
   (g) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), every
beverage manufacturer shall pay to the department the applicable
processing fee for each container sold or transferred to a
distributor or dealer within 40 days of the sale in the form and in
the manner which the department may prescribe.
   (2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 14506, with respect to the payment
of processing fees for beer and other malt beverages manufactured
outside the state, the beverage manufacturer shall be deemed to be
the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance issued
pursuant to Section 23671 of the Business and Professions Code.  If
the department is unable to collect the processing fee from the
person or entity named on the certificate of compliance, the
department shall give written notice by certified mail to that person
or entity.  The notice shall state that the processing fee shall be
remitted in full within 30 days of issuance of the notice or the
person or entity shall not be permitted to offer that beverage brand
for sale within the state.  If the person or entity fails to remit
the processing fee within 30 days of issuance of the notice, the
department shall notify the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
that the certificate holder has failed to comply, and the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control shall prohibit the offering or sale of
that beverage brand within the state.
   (B) The department shall enter into a contract with the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control, pursuant to Section 14536.5,
concerning the implementation of this paragraph, which shall include
a provision reimbursing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
for its costs incurred in implementing this paragraph.
   (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a beverage manufacturer
may, upon the approval of the department, elect to make a single
annual payment of processing fees, if the beverage manufacturer's
projected processing fees for a calendar year total less than one
thousand dollars ($1,000).
   (B) An annual processing fee payment made pursuant to this
paragraph is due and payable on or before February 1 for every
beverage container sold or transferred by the beverage manufacturer
to a distributor or dealer in the previous calendar year.
   (C) A beverage manufacturer shall notify the department of its
intent to make an annual processing fee payment pursuant to this
paragraph on or before January 31 of the calendar year preceding the
year in which the payment will be due.
   (4) The department shall pay the processing payments on redeemed
containers to processors, in the same manner as it pays refund values
pursuant to Sections 14573 and 14573.5.  The processor shall pay the
recycling center the entire processing payment representing the
actual cost and financial return incurred by the recycling center, as
specified in subdivision (a).
   (h) When assessing processing fees pursuant to subdivision (a),
the department shall assess the processing fee on each container
sold, as provided in subdivision (e), by the type of material of the
container.
   (i) The container manufacturer, or a designated agent, shall pay
to, or credit, the account of the beverage manufacturer in an amount
equal to the processing fee.
   (j) (1) The department shall annually, on or before January 1,
determine the statewide average scrap values paid by beneficiating
and nonbeneficiating processors for glass containers during the
12-month period ending September 30.  If the department determines
that the statewide average scrap values paid for glass containers is
10 percent or more above or below the scrap value specified in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), the department shall adjust the
processing payment to equal the difference between the cost of
recycling, as specified in subdivision (b) and paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c), and the new statewide average scrap value.
   (2) The department shall make a monthly upward or downward
adjustment of a processing fee established pursuant to this section
for PET plastic beverage containers if the department determines that
the average statewide scrap values paid by processors, for any
monthly period, are more or less than the average scrap values used
as the basis for the processing fee currently in effect.
   (l) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2000, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2000, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  Section 14575 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   14575.  (a) If any type of empty beverage container with a refund
value established pursuant to Section 14560 has a scrap value less
than the sum of paragraphs (1) and (2), the department shall
establish a processing fee and a processing payment for the
container, by the type of the material of the container, at least
equal to the difference between the scrap value offered by a
statistically significant sample of container manufacturers, beverage
manufacturers, processors, or willing purchasers, for each container
sold by the beverage manufacturer, and the sum of both of the
following:
   (1) The actual cost for certified recycling centers, excluding
those recycling centers receiving a convenience incentive payment,
and certified processors which did not receive convenience incentive
payments in the year in which the processing fee is calculated or
recalculated, of receiving, handling, processing, storing,
transporting, and maintaining equipment for each container sold for
recycling or, only if the container is not recyclable, for disposal,
calculated pursuant to subdivision (c).
   (2) A reasonable financial return for recycling centers and
processors, calculated pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (b) The department shall annually, on or before January 1,
calculate weighted statewide average values for the amounts specified
in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) for each type of
container material sold and a new processing fee, which shall be
effective on that same date.
   (c) A processing fee established pursuant to this section shall be
based upon all of the following:
   (1) The average scrap values paid by willing purchasers during the
1990 calendar year for the initial calculation and the average scrap
values paid by willing purchasers during the calendar year directly
preceding the year in which the processing fee is calculated for any
subsequent calculation.
   (2) The latest available data indicating the volumes of beverage
containers collected by certified processors and recycling centers.
   (3) The actual recycling costs for certified recycling centers and
processors, as determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a) for the 1989 calendar year for the initial calculation, and for
the second calendar year preceding the year in which the processing
fee is calculated for any subsequent calculation.
   (d) Every six months, or more frequently as determined to be
necessary by the department, the department may adjust a processing
fee established pursuant to this section if both of the following
occur:
   (1) The department determines that the average statewide scrap
values paid by willing purchasers are less than the average scrap
values used as the basis for the processing fee calculation.
   (2) The department determines that adjusting the processing fee is
necessary to further the objectives of this division.
   (e) The calculations of the statewide weighted average values and
processing fee made pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be based on
audited surveys of the costs specified in subdivision (a) at existing
certified recycling centers, reverse vending machines, and
processors, with standardized modifications for transportation
distances and factors specific to a particular region, as determined
by the department, and, if the container is not recyclable, local
disposal fees.  The processing fee shall be calculated in a manner
which furthers the purposes of this division and the fee shall be
sufficient to establish sufficient recycling locations and processors
to achieve the goals established pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 14501 and Section 14571.  Except for the first calculation of
a processing fee made pursuant to this section, 60 days prior to the
annual calculation of the processing fee, the department shall
submit a report to the Chairperson of the Assembly Natural Resources
Committee and the Chairperson of the Senate Natural Resources and
Wildlife Committee.  The report shall include a summary of the
fluctuations of costs and scrap values necessitating the
recalculation.  The report shall also highlight changes in markets,
new technologies, and other business and economic factors.  The
report shall include a description of the average per container
statewide costs of recycling beverage containers, by each material
type, for the following recycling systems, including a description of
any assumptions used to allocate undifferentiated costs among
material types, and a brief statement of the reason for the adoption
of these assumptions:
   (1) Automated recycling centers.
   (2) Staffed recycling centers.
   (3) Recycling centers established since September 29, 1988.
   (4) Recycling centers established prior to September 29, 1988.
   (5) Recyclers receiving convenience incentive payments, as
feasible.
   (6) Nonprofit dropoff programs.
   (7) Curbside recycling programs.
   (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), every
beverage manufacturer shall pay to the department the applicable
processing fee for each container sold or transferred to a
distributor or dealer within 40 days of the sale in the form and in
the manner which the department may prescribe.
   (2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 14506, with respect to the payment
of processing fees for beer and other malt beverages manufactured
outside the state, the beverage manufacturer shall be deemed to be
the person or entity named on the certificate of compliance issued
pursuant to Section 23671 of the Business and Professions Code.  If
the department is unable to collect the processing fee from the
person or entity named on the certificate of compliance, the
department shall give written notice by certified mail to that person
or entity.  The notice shall state that the processing fee shall be
remitted in full within 30 days of issuance of the notice or the
person or entity shall not be permitted to offer that beverage brand
for sale within the state.  If the person or entity fails to remit
the processing fee within 30 days of issuance of the notice, the
department shall notify the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
that the certificate holder has failed to comply, and the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control shall prohibit the offering or sale of
that beverage brand within the state.
   (B) The department shall enter into a contract with the Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control, pursuant to Section 14536.5,
concerning the implementation of this paragraph, which shall include
a provision reimbursing the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
for its costs incurred in implementing this paragraph.
   (3) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a beverage manufacturer
may, upon the approval of the department, elect to make a single
annual payment of processing fees, if the beverage manufacturer's
projected processing fees for a calendar year total less than one
thousand dollars ($1,000).
   (B) An annual processing fee payment made pursuant to this
paragraph is due and payable on or before February 1 for every
beverage container sold or transferred by the beverage manufacturer
to a distributor or dealer in the previous calendar year.
   (C) A beverage manufacturer shall notify the department of its
intent to make an annual processing fee payment pursuant to this
paragraph on or before January 31 of the calendar year preceding the
year in which the payment will be due.
   (4) The department shall pay the processing payments on redeemed
containers to processors, in the same manner as it pays refund values
pursuant to Sections 14573 and 14573.5.  The department shall pay
the processing fees collected on unredeemed containers into the fund.
  The department shall not use processing fees collected on
unredeemed beverage containers to pay all or a portion of the
processing costs determined pursuant to subdivision (a).  The
processor shall pay the recycling center that portion of the
processing payment representing the actual cost and financial return
incurred by the recycling center, as specified in subdivision (a).
   (g) When assessing processing fees pursuant to subdivision (b),
the department shall assess the processing fee on each container
sold, by the type of material of the container, assuming that every
container sold will be redeemed for recycling, whether or not the
container is actually recycled.  When calculating and assessing
processing fees, the department also shall not assume that redemption
bonuses will be kept by recycling centers or locations.
   (h) The container manufacturer, or a designated agent, shall pay
to, or credit, the account of the beverage manufacturer in an amount
equal to the processing payment.
   (i) This section shall become operative January 1, 2000.
  SEC. 4.  Section 14581 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   14581.  (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the department
may expend the money set aside in the fund, pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 14580 for the purposes of this section, in the
following order of priority:
   (1) Eighteen million five hundred thousand dollars ($18,500,000)
may be expended, until January 1, 2000, for the payment of handling
fees required pursuant to Section 14585.
   (2) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be expended, until
January 1, 2000, for payments for curbside programs pursuant to
Section 14549.6.
   (3) (A) Seven million dollars ($7,000,000), plus the proportional
share of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in subdivision
(b), may be expended in the form of grants issued to either of the
following:
   (i) Certified community conservation corps, that either exist as
of September 12, 1996, or that are formed after that date, that are
designated by a city or a city and county to perform litter
abatement, recycling, and related activities, if the city or the city
and county has a population, as determined by the most recent
census, of more than 250,000 persons.
   (ii) Community conservation corps, that are designated by a county
to perform litter abatement, recycling, and related activities, and
are certified by the California Conservation Corps as having operated
for a minimum of two years and as meeting all other criteria of
Section 14507.5.
   (B) Any grants provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not
comprise more than 75 percent of the annual budget of a community
conservation corps.
   (4) Two million dollars ($2,000,000), plus the proportional share
of the cost-of-living adjustment, as provided in subdivision (b), may
be expended, in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations or
governmental entities, as determined by the department.
   (b) The nine million dollars ($9,000,000) that is set aside
pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (a), is a base
amount that the department shall adjust annually to reflect any
increases or decreases in the cost of living, as measured by the
Department of Labor, or a successor agency, of the federal
government.
   (c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payments
of handling fees to supermarket sites pursuant to Section 14585 shall
apply retroactively to any eligible beverage container redeemed on
and after January 1, 1999.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payments to
curbside programs pursuant to Section 14549.6 shall apply
retroactively to containers collected by curbside programs on and
after January 1, 1999.
  SEC. 5.  Section 14585 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   14585.  (a) The department shall adopt guidelines and methods for
paying handling fees to supermarket sites to provide an incentive for
the redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones.
The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
   (1) Handling fees shall be paid on a monthly basis, in the form
and manner adopted by the department.  The department shall require
that claims for the handling fee be filed with the department not
later than the first day of the second month following the month for
which the handling fee is claimed as a condition of receiving any
handling fee.
   (2) To be eligible for any handling fee, a supermarket site
recycling center shall redeem not less than 60,000 beverage
containers, and, except for operators of certified recycling centers
that are nonprofit organizations, not more than 500,000 beverage
containers, during the calendar month in which the handling fee is
claimed.
   (3) A beverage container with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or
more shall be considered as two beverage containers for purposes of
determining the eligibility percentage, any handling fee
calculations, and payments.
   (4) The department shall determine the number of eligible
containers per site for which a handling fee will be paid in the
following manner:
   (A) Each supermarket site's combined monthly volume of glass and
plastic beverage containers shall be divided by the site's total
monthly volume of all empty beverage container types.
   (B) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
equal to, or more than, 20 percent, the total monthly volume of the
site shall be the maximum volume which is eligible for a handling fee
for that month.
   (C) If the quotient determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) is
less than 20 percent, the department shall divide the volume of glass
and plastic beverage containers by 20 percent.  That quotient shall
be maximum volume that is eligible for a handling fee for that month.

   (5) The department shall pay a handling fee of 1.7 cents ($0.017)
per eligible beverage container, as determined pursuant to paragraph
(4).
   (6) Notwithstanding paragraph (5), the total handling fee payment
to a supermarket site shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000)
per month.
   (7) If the eligible volume in any given month would result in
handling fee payments which exceed the allocation of funds for that
month, as provided in subdivision (b), sites with higher eligible
monthly volumes shall receive handling fees for their entire eligible
monthly volume before sites with lower eligible monthly volumes
receive any handling fees.
   (8) (A) If a dealer where a supermarket site is located ceases
operation for remodeling or for a change of ownership, the operator
of that supermarket site shall be eligible to apply for handling fees
for that site for a period of three months following the date of the
closure of the dealer.
   (B) Every supermarket site operator shall promptly notify the
department of the closure of the dealer where the supermarket site is
located.
   (C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any operator who fails to
provide notification to the department pursuant to subparagraph (B)
shall not be eligible to apply for handling fees.
   (b) The department may allocate the eighteen million five hundred
thousand dollars ($18,500,000) authorized for expenditure for the
payment of handling fees pursuant to  paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a) of Section 14581 on a monthly basis and may carry over any
unexpended monthly allocation to a subsequent month or months.
However, unexpended monthly allocations shall not be carried over to
a subsequent fiscal year for the purpose of paying handling fees but
may be carried over for any other purpose pursuant to Section 14581.

   (c) The department shall not make handling fee payments to more
than one certified recycling center in a convenience zone.  If a
dealer is located in more than one convenience zone, the department
shall offer a single handling fee payment to a supermarket site
located at that dealer.  This handling fee payment shall not be split
between the affected zones.  The department shall stop making
handling fee payments if another recycling center certifies to
operate within the convenience zone without receiving payments
pursuant to this section, if the department monitors the performance
of the other recycling center for 60 days and determines that the
recycling center is in compliance with this division.  Any recycling
center that locates in a convenience zone, thereby causing a
preexisting recycling center to become ineligible to receive handling
fee payments, is ineligible to receive any handling fee payments in
that convenience zone.
   (d) The department may require the operator of a supermarket site
receiving handling fees to maintain records for each location where
beverage containers are redeemed, and may require the supermarket
site to take any other action necessary for the department to
determine that the supermarket site does not receive an excessive
handling fee.
   (e) The department may determine and utilize a standard container
per pound rate, for each material type, for the purpose of
calculating volumes and making handling fee payments.
   (f) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that handling fees
paid to supermarket site recycling centers be only used to offset the
unique costs of providing convenient recycling opportunities to
consumers, and that those fees shall not be expended for the purpose
of engaging in unfair and predatory pricing intended to increase the
recycling of beverage containers at those centers.
   (2) To ensure that handling fees, paid to supermarket site
recycling centers, are not used for the purpose of engaging in unfair
and predatory pricing and to otherwise further the intent of
paragraph (1), the department shall, upon the complaint of any person
other than the department, convene an informal hearing before the
director or a designee, in accordance with the following:
            (A) At the hearing, the complainant shall present
evidence that a respondent handling fee recipient has engaged in
unfair and predatory pricing and that the complainant has suffered
substantial and quantifiable economic damages as a result of that
pricing.  Upon the director's determination that there is credible
evidence of unfair and predatory pricing and of resulting damages,
the complainant is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the
respondent has engaged in unfair and predatory pricing.
   (B) At the hearing, the respondent shall have the opportunity to
respond to the complaint by presenting evidence that the respondent
has not engaged in unfair and predatory pricing and has not caused
any damage to the complainant.
   (C) Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing and any
presumption pursuant to subparagraph (A), the director or the
director's designee shall determine if there is clear and convincing
evidence that a violation of this division has occurred, and, if so,
the respondent shall not be eligible to receive handling fees for
three months.
   (D) The complainant or respondent may obtain review of the
director's action taken pursuant to this subdivision by filing in the
superior court a petition for writ of mandate within 30 days
following the issuance of the director's decision.  Section 1094.5 of
the Code of Civil Procedure shall govern judicial proceedings
pursuant to this subdivision, except that in every case the court
shall exercise its independent judgment.  If a petition for a writ of
mandate is not filed within the time limits set by this subdivision,
the director's action under this subdivision shall not be subject to
review by any court or agency.
   (E) If either party appeals the director's or designee's decision
pursuant to subparagraph (D), and the department prevails, the
department may recover any costs associated with its defense of the
petition.
   (g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2000, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2000, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 6.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to ensure the continuation of the state's beverage
container recycling program, which protects the environment and
benefits public health and safety, it is necessary that this act take
effect immediately.
